Funerary Vessel with an Underworld Scene (detail, pre-conservation), South Italian, made in Apulia, 360–340 BC; found in Altamura, Italy, in 1847, terracotta. Red-figure volute krater attributed to the Circle of the Lycurgus Painter. National Archaeological Museum of Naples, 81666

Underworld: Imagining the Afterlife

GETTY VILLA

The Getty Villa

This is a past event

What did ancient Greeks believe would happen to them after they died? Organized around a monumental funerary vessel, on loan from National Archaeological Museum in Naples and recently conserved at the Getty Villa, this exhibition explores depictions of the Underworld in the art of Greece and southern Italy. Beyond tales of famous wrongdoers and rulers of the dead, the works on view highlight the desire for a blessed existence after death and the ways in which individuals sought to achieve a happier afterlife.